Tag Archives: Yorkshire

Rolling blog. Swindon, cross-country…

08 Wednesday Oct 2025

Posted by in Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, The PWI, Travel

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10:15.

After a welcome night at home, I’ve repacked my bags (which are now full of my PPE) and begun my journey across country to Swindon in Wiltshire to join the rest of the PWI team abd delegates for this year’s electrification challenge at the Network Rail training school at Cocklebury sidings.

My route avoids London, which means I’m taking a truly Cross-Country route to Leeds. From there, I pick up an XC train that goes via Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham and Cheltenham to Bristol Parkway. On arrival, I change for a GWR train for the hop to Swindon. What could possibly go wrong?

I’m about to find out…

Off to Swindon. Me that is, this train’s off to York!

The first leg of my journey was easy.  Dawn was a star and dropped me off at Halifax station, which allowed me to bank some time in Leeds as I was able to catch an earlier train than I’d planned. A busy 3-car heading for York carried me to Leeds via Bradford – without any of the problems we encountered yesterday.

The ‘mobile office’ had to stay in my camera bag, meaning this first part of the blog was typed on my phone.

10:40.

I’m relaxing at Leeds and making use of the free station wifi to post this blog.

Checking real time trains it seems my next train is (mercifully) made up of two four-car Voyagers and is (almost) on time on its journey from Scotland.

Leeds platforms 15-16 used to be almost exclusively used by Trans-Pennine Express. I still do a double-take when I see a Northern service using one.

11:11.

All’s well with the world. OK, admittedly I’m really on a cramped 4-car Voyager, but we’re on time, I have a window seat, working plug socket, and WiFi- so I’m counting that as a win – despite the fact I now have a bum-numbing 3 hrs 12 mins on this train.

Ready for the road…

Now it’s time to set up the mobile office to get some work done…

12:15.

I’ve retraced yesterday’s steps as far as Chesterfield. We’re running a couple of minutes late but that’s hardly a problem. My car on this train is blissfully quiet. We’ve had people come and go at Wakefield or Sheffield, but there’s been no major influx. One of the ironies of Cross-Country services is that – despite the length of the diagram (this train’s travelling from Glasgow to Plymouth) most passengers are taking far shorter journeys. I don’t know what the statistics are now, but the average used to be about 50 miles. It’s no wonder the moquette gets so worn, that’s a lot of bums on a single seat in the course of the diagram!

Room to breathe. Unusual on Cross-Country.

12:55.

We’re now past Tamworth and well into the Midlands, heading West. This has been one of the most relaxed cross-country journeys I’ve had in a long time. After leaving Derby we passed the old Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, where the giant cooling towers overshadow the railway. It was the UKs last coal-fired power station and closed last year. Now it’s been slated for demolition. These structures dominated a lot of the skyline around where I now live but are vanishing one by one. Of course, the collieries that once fuelled them have already vanished. The line’s skyline’s changing. A new landmark is the viaducts of HS2’s triangular junction for the lines out of Birmingham, which is really taking shape. In fact, HS2 construction dominates much of this route into (and out of) Birmingham.

13:20.

We’ve left Birmingham to follow a far more relaxed and less contentious form of transport construction – a canal! Well, I say that, but I know Nimbys still existed in the 18th century – but they were landowners and the gentry rather than ordinary people! Despite an influx of passengers in Brum this train’s still got plenty of free seats – thank God for a double set. If this had been a single 4-car Voyager we’d be playing Sardines. I’ve had a walk-through this train. There’s three people in 1st Class, whist Standard class has loadings of around 20%

One of my reasons for a walk-through (other than curiosity) was to grab something to eat. Foolishly, I hadn’t prepared anything before I left so was reliant on on-board catering. Only the trolley service as far as Birmingham was bereft of anything substantive. It was snack-bars or nothing. But, after a crew change – we had butties from Brum!

It may be white bread, but it was still a decent sandwich.

17:00.

I’m in Swindon after a fault-free journey. Sadly, I have to report that the town’s not got any better and is still a sh*thole. That said, I have gone for a walk uphill into the old town in order to get my steps in. The old town’s much nicer. You know a town’s a mess when the only thing that brightens it up is street art. Here’s a few pics from my stroll…

A lovely, relaxed pub with a modern interior.
This brightens up your day…
I passed a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside BBC Wiltshire. I wonder if they’ll report on it?
More street art..
Yet more street art..
Are you sure? I suspect that with some clients, a verbal announcement may be more useful…

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West Yorkshire weekend…

10 Sunday Aug 2025

Posted by in Photography, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Hi folks. We’ve had a busy weekend and it’s late so here’s a short blog encapsulating two hectic days. I’ll be writing more about Saturday and Sunday later as they’ve been very different in character and worth describing at greater length.

Yesterday we attended ‘Craggfest’ for the first time. It was a cracking event full of fun and music, showcasing some of the best the Calder Valley community has to offer. Here’s a couple of shots.

It’s not my horizon that’s on the blink – honest! The field that Craggfest is held in is typical West Yorkshire – less than flat! So, the marquee that holds the stage, bar and food looks distinctly wonky.
Sadly, we couldn’t stay until late, but we did hear a variety of talented local bands, including this one, which featured younger musicians

Today (Sunday) the weather had picked up so we ventured out on another reservoir trip to a place we’d never walked around before. Widdop, on moors North-West of Hebden Bridge. Conditions were ideal, although the reservoir had shrunk to half its normal size. The ridges either side of the reservoir contain some fantasic rock formations.

This evening we’ve retreated back to Bigland Towers where I’ve been on cooking duty whilst Dee prepares for the week ahead. We fancied a dish I haven’t cooked for a while – cucumber curry, here’s how it progresses.

The basic ingredients, minus a few dried red chili’s abd a teaspoon of sugar.
Step 2. On the right is the coconut sauce with the red pepper, cucumber, peanuts and Turneric. In the frying pan are the other spices, chilli, curry leaves, and garlic.
The finished article

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Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Easter Sunday in pictures…

20 Sunday Apr 2025

Posted by in Abandoned railways, Photography, Travel, West Yorkshire

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It’s getting late here at Bigland Towers meaning I don’t have enough time to do the day justice in a blog – especially as we’ve had a great day exploring. Instead I’ll you with a series of pictures as a teaser for a longer blog tomorrow when I have time to write.

We made the most of the glorious weather today by nipping out for a walk around Ogden water country park which is north of Halifax on the road to Haworth and Keighley. The area offers some outstanding views across West Yorkshire. Here’s a few pictures. Firstly, and oddity…

We noticed this collection of old tram rails that had been used to build a platform in a field adjacent to the A629. They must be pretty old as the Halifax network closed in 1939 whilst Bradford trams finished running in 1950.
Looking South-East across the Ogden reservoir from the moors above.
The cliffs at Ogden Clough.
The view from atop the cliffs.
Having walked across the moors to Ogden Clough we walked back along the wooded stream which feeds the reservoir.
Looking back across the reservoir from the dam, we’d walked up high above to near the wind turbines you can see in the background.

After the walk we decided to explore. I looked up a nearby real ale pub in the Good Beer Guide and we headed off to try somewhere different in an area neither of us had explored before. I’ll blog about what we found at length tomorrow, but here’s a taster.

En-route we discovered this magnificent 20 arch Thornton railway viaduct which was built by the Great Northern Railway and opened in 1878 in but abandoned in 1966.
Thornton’s the birthplace of a rather famous Yorkshire literary family – as we found out…

OK, more tomorrow,

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

13th April picture of the day…

13 Sunday Apr 2025

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Sorry, I got a bit lost on our return from Surrey as there’s been a lot to do – hence the lack of blogs. The journey back was fine. It’s the first time when we’ve travelled to and from West Yorkshire to Surrey and back when we’ve had wall to wall sunshine in each direction – even the traffic played ball and the absence of roadworks ‘up North’ (where converting the M1 to a ‘smart’ motorway took years) was a welcome change. The only thing that made the journey a bit edgy was Yorkshire drivers who saw lane discipline and speed limits as optional.

Friday was a chance to revel in the glorious weather and adjust to being back home. Dee had the day and pottered around at home whilst I managed to get out for a walk whilst preparing to edit the hundreds of pictures I’d taken over our Southern sojourn. Admittedly, I did get chance to indulge in the Friday night quiz in our local pub and catch up with Friends.

However, Saturday saw me glued to my office as I edited picture after picture ready for adding captions -another marathon task as I identify locations and individual train workings. Now that task is done and the pictures have been added to my Zenfolio website. You can find the images in these falleries.

South-Western Railway

London Underground

Great Western

Travel images

The only shots I have left to list are the ones from my HS2 site visit. Expect those to appear tomorrow.

Today’s been rather a more active day as we travelled over to Huddersfield to see Dawn’s parents (dropping off supplies and staying for a chat) before heading back to the Calder valley and a stroll around Norland Moor, which we spy across the Calder valley from our bedroom window. Admittedly, we were up there late in the day but it’s the first time we’ve seen it so devoid of other walkers – and their dogs!

Now we’re back at home and preparing for the week ahead, which will see me based at home, catching up on lots of stuff whilst planning for future trips (we’re off to Shropshire soon). Right now I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is a view from the edge of Norland Moor looking home.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

A walk around the Langsett reservoir.

24 Saturday Aug 2024

Posted by in Food and drink, Photography, Pubs, Travel, Walking, Yorkshire

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Today we decided to eschew our usual walking locations around West Yorkshire for a change of scenery by venturing further (but not too far) afield. The recent gales had smashed some plant pots in the garden and to replace them like for like we had to visit a garden centre near Holmfirth, so as we were in that neck of the woods we chose the nearby Langsett reservoir as a suitable place for a stroll. It’s surrounded by pine woods and has a pub and cafe in the village nearby, so all the right boxes were ticked.

It was a walk we really enjoyed because of the contrasts. Here’s how it looks on Ordnance Survey maps.

Having left the car in the (free) Yorkshire Water carpark we headed West along the woods at Langsett bank on the North side of the reservoir. There’s some impressive pine trees along the path. Mere striplings they ain’t!

At the far end we crossed over an attractive stone arch bridge then explored a short distance along the little Don river which feeds the reservoir. I spotted these interesting rock formations along its banks.

Rock sandwich anyone?

Doubling back on ourselves to the bridge we then began the climb along the South side up onto the moors at Hingcliff common which offer great views across the area. The heather’s in flower at the moment, which adds extra colour to the scene.

The rest of the walk took us along well defined paths back down to the reservoir and through the woods which border the Southern side as far as the dam itself. These allow access to the water’s edge, where we were surprised to see just how low the water levels were. Considering we’ve had such a wet Spring and Summer we were at a loss to understand why water levels were so low.

Looking back to Langsett (on the left side of the dam) and the dam itself.

Back in the village we stopped off for a well-earned drink at the local pub, the grade 2 listed Waggon and Horses, which dates from 1828. The pub serves real ales (Abbeydale Moonshine and Timothy Taylors Boltmaker were on today) as well as food and it also has a beer garden which partly overlook the reservoir. The size of the pub’s deceptive, as it’s a lot larger on the inside than it first appears, having several rooms. It also offers accommodation.

We certainly enjoyed the change of scenery and we were lucky with the weather, which has been unpredictable to say the least. Tomorrow we’re expecting traditional bank-holiday conditions. Rain!

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

The ‘office’ has moved…

22 Friday Mar 2024

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Greetings from deepest North Yorkshire! For the next few days the pair of us have relocated to Glaisdale, which we’ll be using as a base to explore the area, enjoy some walking on coast and moors as well as sampling some local food and drink. We’re off to a good start. I’ve already stocked up on mince, eggs and Black Pudding from the local family butchers just a few doors down the road. The village also possesses a combined post office and general store which is good for buying basics. We’ve struck lucky with the weather too as we’re enjoying some glorious sunshine, although a bitingly cold wind is taking the edge off things slightly. Here’s a look at where we’re based now.

There’s worse places to be!
The view from the back garden right now. As office windows go…

I’ll blog more later when we’ve been out and about. Right now it’s time for lunch…

18:30.

What a stunning day! Whitby looked at its best due to the weather. We walked around the town for a few hours rediscovering old nooks and carnnies as well as trying out new delights in the cafes, bars and shops. Here’s a few pictures to pique your interest.

Returning with the catch…
It was choppy out there today dues to the winds – as evidenced by the white-capped waves outside the breakwater.
Danby delight. 156448 and 156490 approach the station whilst working 2N31, the 1557 from Whitby to Hexham.
The pair seen in the late afternoon sun about to pull away from Danby.

Now we’re back at the AirBnB, changing from scruffs to more suitable attire as we’re off for a meal at a rather nice hotel not a million miles away. More later…

22:00.

The two of us are now back at our temporary home with feet up in front of a log fire, digesting the lovely meal we enjoyed at the Horseshoe Hotel in nearby Egton Bridge. This dog-friendly pub and hotel has internal decor that’s rather eccentric for this neck of the woods as it’s African themed, but the food is very British. Dawn and I shared a scallop starter before diverging on main courses. I opted for the belly pork with scallop and black pudding whilst Dee satisfied her carnivore instincts with a steak. All three meals were very good and the prices commendably competitive.

Scallops with Cauliflower puree and black pudding.
Belly pork with mashed potato, scallop, black pudding and vegetables.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

11th March picture of the day…

11 Monday Mar 2024

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Politics, Yorkshire

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Some days it’s difficult to take this country seriously anymore. Today’s been one of them. One section of the media has been hyperventilating over a badly photoshopped picture of a member of the royal family and her kids, whilst another has been following the latest political psychodrama as a former Conservative deputy Vice-Chairman (Lee Anderson) defects to the Reform party, giving them their first MP.

Try as I might (and I’m really not trying very hard) I can’t get excited about the photograph. There’s an awful lot of things to be bothered about in the UK right now – and this isn’t one of them. Watching the Conservative party falling apart however, is becoming quite a spectacle.

Lee Anderson (or ’30pflee’ as he’s known to many) was always a disaster waiting to happen for the Tory party. Supremely unfitted to be an MP, he was elected in to represent Mansfield as part of the 2019 ‘red wall’ collapse of Labour seats. He could have remained in political obscurity until he was booted out in this years general election but Rishi Sunak had other ideas and (over)promoted him to the job of Conservative Party Deputy-Chairman. This says little about Anderson but a huge amount about how useless Sunak’s judgement is.

Needless to say, Anderson was a disaster and got himself suspended from the Tories after refusing to apologise for Islamophobic remarks he made about the Labour Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Now , having originally defected from Labour to the Tories, Anderson’s jumped ship to Reform, where he’ll no doubt provide plenty of popcorn moments before the voters of Ashfield have chance to eject him at an election. He’s already gone full fascist at the press conference, saying he wants his country ‘back’. I almost feel sorry for Reform. They’re cock-a-hoop at having recruited him (don’t you mean ‘bought him’? Ed) as they now have an actual MP, their problem is they’re got yet another ego the size of a planet competing for attention with Tice, Farage and Habib (who failed to get elected in Wellingborough recently). I predict this will not end well! On the bright side, it’s going to cause just as much consternation in the Tory party as Sunak will come under even more pressure to drag the party further to the right – which is only going to end in tears (and electoral oblivion). Will any other Tory MPs follow Anderson to Reform? Possibly, but it won’t save them. Remember Chuka Umunna and the other breakaway MPs who formed ‘Change UK’? That went well. Or Douglas Carswell, the only UKIP MP? He’s now playing his banjo for a right-wing ‘think-tank’ in Mississippi, USA!

I have a feeling that the next round of political polls could be very interesting! The Tories have already sunk to 18% in one recent poll whilst YouGov has seen then regularly poll around 20% (27 points behind Labour). As for Reform, sections of the media are really trying to big them up but the truth is they’re nowhere near hitting the polling heights UKIP did at their Zenith – and they still didn’t win a single seat at a general election! This polling tracker in the Guardian shows the extent of the Tories woes…

My advice? Go buy some popcorn to enjoy whilst you watch the state of UK politics. Really, it’s no laughing matter, but at the moment there’s not a lot else to do but watch the Tory infighting until Sunak finally plucks up the courage to call an election. I still think it might be May. If so, we’ve only got 16 days left to find out as March 27th is when the announcement has to be made by. If not, then this farce will likely drag on until the autumn at the earliest – God help us!

Away from politics and despite the gloomy weather it’s been a productive day here at Bigland Towers. We’re gearing up for the Community Rail Awards which will take place this time next week. Plus, the pair of us have booked a four night break in North Yorkshire shortly afterwards for some ‘down-time’. In the meantime I’m hoping to say ‘sod the weather’ and get out with the camera tomorrow. For now I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is a view of one of the places we’ll be revisiting soon. Whitby. Here’s the first glimpse of the town you get as you approach over the moors…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

11th December picture of the day…

11 Monday Dec 2023

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Yorkshire

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Another week that’s begin very much glued to my office chair – but at least my nurse’s uniform has been consigned to a cupboard for the foreseeable future! Dawn’s feeling a lot better and my brief fear that I was the next in line to go down with the lurgi appears to be unfounded. To add to the joy the latest storm has passed and we’ve even had some sunshine today.

Even so I’ve been confined to barracks as I’ve spent the day sat in front of a keyboard type-swiping. I’ve been kept occupied writing my next article for RAIL magazine which is on the High Speed 2 and East -West rail interface around Calvert in Buckinghamshire. My previous scribblings on the former Woodhead railway around Manchester and Sheffield will be published in the next edition of the mag which will hit the news stands on the 13th December.

I’ve a few more office-based bits to finish off tomorrow, after that I’m looking forward to getting out and about again. It’s been a torrid time on the railways this past week due to power and train failures along with a new timetable that’s seeing reduced services and overcrowding on some routes. Just what you don’t need in the run-up to Christmas. I’ll be blogging from my travels as later in the week I’ll be heading to London on one (if not both) of the affected routes. Oh, and there’s still the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade (TRU) work to catch up on…

But, for now I’m going to leave you with today’s picture. which was taken on the former Woodhead railway route at Beeley wood near Stcoksbridge on the 25th October. This abandoned freight line has bee included in Rishi Sunak’s ridiculous ‘Network North’ con job masquerading as an ‘alternative’ to HS2. From a transport and economic perspective it a cross between a dead-duck and a turkey. There’s only one reason I can thank of that the line was included. It’s located in the ‘Red wall’ Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency of Miriam Cates MP, a socially conservative evangelical Christian Brexiter Tory (Oh, God… Ed) who won her seat in 2019 but will very much struggle to hold it. Funny, that…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Rolling blog. Birthday ‘bash’…

27 Friday Oct 2023

Posted by in Photography, Railways, Rolling blogs, TPE, Yorkshire

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09:15.

Last night’s pessimism was thankfully unfounded. It seems Trans-Pennine Express have managed to get four of their class 68s into service today, so I’m off for a day out to meet up with old friends and enjoy a few trips behind these trains before their untimely demise. Or, to borrow railway enthusiast terminology, we’re going to ‘bash’ a few! The sorry saga of the Vossloh built Class 68s and their CAF built coaching sets is worthy of a blog of its own. It doesn’t show the railway in a good light, from TPE themselves right through to CAF, the builders of the coaches. Poor decision making and planning runs through the story like the letters through a stick of rock.

Right now I’m still in a very foggy Calder valley, waiting for a late running 09:22 to Manchester Victoria. I’ll be meeting some friends in the city to catch the first working which will carry us back across the Pennines. Watch this space…

A CAF train that does work…

09:50.

We’ve now burst through the Summit tunnel into Lancashire and – as is typical – we have very different weather here. The fog’s lifted, as have the clouds letting the sky tease us with glimpses of clear blue sky.

The change seems to have befuddled my train. The information screens and PA are announcing we’re approaching Low Moor (near Bradford) just as we speed through Saddleworth!

11:20.

The fun begins…

13:05.

We’re back in foggy Yorkshire. What a change from the sunshine of Lancashire. Right now we’re awaiting the road from York to Malton where we’ll be meeting another couple of the group who’ll join us for the stip to Seamer where we’ll pick up a Westbound service back to York. This train’s been busy throughout the trip with a constant churn rate of passengers. These five car sets will be missed when they revert to three car trains.

21:15.

yes, I know, there’s been a huge gap in blogging here. That’s mainly because we’ve been having so much fun together – in real life. Our plans were fluid so the gang ended up meeting up in Malton en-route to Scarbados – sorry Scarborough. Only there was a much more interesting opportunity by changing trains at a pace called Seamer, which allowed us to sample a different Class 68 and Mk 5 set to get us back to York. By which time it was beer o’ clock. So, the four of us adjourned to some of the lesser well-known real ale pubs for a bevvy or two where we could relax, enjoy each others company and talk about all manner of things.

68025. Our steed fom Seamer to York.

The hour we’d set aside turned into several. but what a lovely day. For me it was a chance to enjoy my birthday with some close friends without any pressure to ‘do’ things.

Three of the four, Mr Holcombe was hiding. Thanks to JV for the selfie!

Now I’m back at home as we’ve gone our separate ways. The trains I’ve caught have been packed – so much for the claims no-one’s travelling by rail anymore. What surprised me is that it wasn’t just trains syphoning folk into Leeds, people were travelling much wider. A night out in Halifax? Some folk were going for it!

Now it’s time for me to relax back home and sort out a few pictures. Tomorrow Dawn and I are out with different friends (the five from the 6) to celebrate Kath’s birthday, but there won’t be a train in sight…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312